Red Johns Ruby Fascination
by Captain Ryder
Summary: RED JOHN HAS A NEW OBSESION. GRACE VAN PELT Rated T cause, it might get intense/violent.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer-The Mentalist and all characters aren't mine (if they were, the show would never have been picked up) Got the basic idea of the story from a forum.

Summary:Red John has a new obsession. Grace Van Pelt

**RED JOHNS RUBY FASCINATION**

**It was a normal day at the CBI headquarters. Well, normal in the sense that they didn't have a case to work on. Jane was lying on his couch, seemingly asleep. Cho and Rigsby had gone out to get some food. Lisbon was in a meeting with Minelli, and Grace was typing away on her computer.**

**Grace was pretty bored, doing paperwork could do that. She considered saying something to Jane, to see if he was really asleep. She considered it for about a second, than decided against it. The guy needed some peace.**

**A IM message board pooped up on her screen. She frowned slightly, must have accidentally pressed a button, or something. She moved the mouse to click the X, when she saw that the name in the left corner. Blood drained from her face.**

"**Jane!" Grace almost yelled. He jerked straight up, quickly blinking away sleep.**

"**Wh.. What? Got a case?" He mumbled incoherently.**

"**Get over here now!" Grace sounded frightened, on the verge of panic. Sleep was driven away from Jane with a sudden rush of adrenaline, and he rushed over to her desk. Whatever made Grace scared was going to be pretty bad.**

**He leaned down and saw the name on the message, Dr. Joe N.H. **

"**You are different." Jane read the message out loud, while Grace put a trace on the message, and called Lisbon. "I have been watching you, and you have impressed me."**

**Jane reached down and typed, "What do you want?" A new message appeared.**

"**Hello mister Jane. I guess privacy was too much to hope for. So let me answer you now, and for all the others in the CBI. She is MINE, and all your efforts to keep me away from her will be in vain."**

"**Who?" Jane typed, automatically, not expecting an answer. But one did come.**

"**Who's computer are you on?" And then the link was lost. Jane turned to Grace.**

"**Did you get a location?" he asked, his voice was hoarse, barley more than a whisper.**

"**No. Not enough time. What did he mean?" Grace had an idea, but she wanted Jane to tell her she was wrong. He looked pale, almost like he was going to throw up.**

"**Red John is after you."**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer-nothing belongs to me, all rights belong to the creators and studio**

**Thanks for the awsome reveiws! **

**-The song Jane sings is Raggle Taggle Gypsy-a traditional Irish song**

Chapter 1

Dealing

"How do you deal with a crazy serial killer coming after you?" was the one question that kept repeating itself in Grace's head.

After Red John's final message, Lisbon had arrived. After Grace and Jane told her what had happened, and she read the messages, she called in security team to watch all the entrances into the building, and the bull pen. Perhaps a little bit of overkill, but this was Red John.

Lisbon was in here office, talking to some computer whiz, trying to get him to come down and try to find a way to trace the IM's. It wasn't really going anywhere.

Rigsby had taken it upon himself to watch one of the entrances, and had convinced Cho to go with him. Grace was sure that he had speed the whole way back to the office.

Grace was at her desk, trying to get her mind off the situation by doing some work, but it was a bit difficult because she wouldn't even touch her computer. It was irrational, but it kind of freaked her out. What made it even more difficult was Jane, sitting on his couch, acting completely relaxed, when really, he was scanning all the doors, windows, and Grace herself in about 10 second intervals.

Though she wasn't looking at him, Grace could feel Jane staring at her, again! She started to tap her pencil in annoyance. Having (unconsciously) taken the time to calculate it, she waited for Jane to make his visual rounds, and then look at her again.

She spun around in her chair. "Will you stop that!" she barked, which he returned with one of his trade mark grins.

"Stop what?" She glared at him.

"Acting as if your expecting Red John to come barrelling into here at any time. I'm on the verge of a panic attack, and your not helping."

"Your taking this surprisingly well," he said, dodging her statement, "most people would be hiding in a corner with their blue security blanket."

"Well, I'm not like most people." Grace said, desperate to get her mind on something, anything, else.

"No, you are most definitely are not." Jane agreed, also happy to get his mind off of the horrible mental picture he had of Grace as a Red John victim. Grace narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, more of wanting to keep the conversation going than actually knowing the answer.

"Well, your much to nice and caring a person to be immediately pegged as a cop," he began, shifting his shoulders to be more comfortable, "you hold to your religious and ethical beliefs, no matter how wrong they are." Grace glared at him. "Look at Lisbon, she wears a crucifix necklace, but never argues or try to defend her views to me. You do. And I respect you for it."

Grace was momentarily stunned, Jane had given her a compliment, and he wasn't trying to get anything from it.

"Thank you." she said. They sat in silence for a moment, just looking at each other.

"OK, I talked to Minelli about the situation," Lisbon called as she, Rigsby and Cho entered the bull pen. "and he thinks you need to be under constant survailance, witness protection style." Grace opened her mouth to protest, but Lisbon put her hand out to stop her. "I've already told him you weren't going for that, so he compramised. No less than five officers will be with you at all times, making sure that your safe."

Grace wanted to complain and object, but knew that it wasn't going to get anywhere with it, so she let it go.

"OK, the big question is what Red John up to." Rigsby said as he sat on the edge of Graces desk.

"Well actually, we know what he's up to," Jane said, "the bigger question is why is he doing what he's doing?"

"What do you mean?" Cho asked.

"Well think about it. Red John is signalling Van Pelt out specifaclly. He contacted her, which he has never done with his prior victims,"he winced slightly, and glanced at Grace, "and he did it here, in the office."

"OK, any 'guesses'?" Lisbon asked.

"The reson he conntected her, and here at the office is to produce fear and panic. He is uping his gambit, rubbing our noses in it. Like he did with the skywriting."

"OK, but why is he going after Van Pelt?" Rigsby asked, trying to keep the exsesive concern out of his voice.

"Van Pelt is the newest member of the team, as well as the youngest and least experianced. I believethat he was hoping that you would be the most easy to intimidate and frighten, which he was wrong about." Grace gave Jane a half smile. "Plus, of course, the obvious reasons."

The rest of the team glanced around at each other, not wanting to give Jane the satisaction of asking what were the obvious reasons. Jane was just glancing around at them, with a slight grin on his face.

"What are the obvious reasons?" Cho finnally asked.

"Van Pelt is young, smart, compasionate, and beuatiful. All in all, a wonderfull person." Grace was silent, suprised by the amount of complimants Jane had just given her. "By going after her, he is dealing a huge emotional blow to the team."

"OK, so how do we deal with this?" Lisbon asked him.

"We go about our days as normal. We don't let him think he's getting to us. We take precautions, of course, but we don't panic."

Lisbon nodded in agrement. "Alright than, it's late so we'll call it a night. Van Pelt, the five officers will escort you home, than take up watches outside your home." Grace nodded.

"Alright, be here bright and early tommorow morning people."



Patrick Jane was lying awake on the matteress in his daughters bedroom. The Red John Smiley face was overhead on the wall, as if laughing at him for his mistakes. Jane hadn't even bothered to change out of his three peice suit.

He tried staring at the ceiling, the floor, the opposite wall, but his attention always returned to the bloody face. No matter how he tried, he couldn't stop worrying about the situation him and his team was in.

If Red John was able to get to Grace.... Jane didn't know how he'd react. Just thinking about the possibility terrified him, and chilled him to the core. He didn't really understand why. He just knew that if Red John got her, there was nothing in the world that could stop him from tracking him down and killing him like the animal he was.

Finally, Jane began to feel the effects of the sleeping pills, and he closed his eyes and fell into a fitfull sleep.

As usual, his tormented dreams were of his wife and daughter. The life they had, and the night he found them murdered. Every detail of that horrible night replayed itself over and over, in gruesome and horible detail.

Suddenly, the images changed. Jane found himself standing on the side of a door, but not the one in his house. He didn't want to, but his hand reached out and turned the handle, slowly opening the door.

The first thing he noticed was the giant red smiley face, drawn on the floor. The second was Grace, lying in the center of the face. Her body was covered in cuts, blood pouring from her, making the face bigger. Her eyes were open, staring unseeing, her mouth strechted in a silent scream.

A sound began to fill the room. The sound of Red John laughing. Jane ran over to Grace, his dream mind thinking he could save her. He sank to his knees, becoming covered in blood. His eyes stung from, and water ran from them.

He lifted his head up, and looked at the wall. Words were begining to form, dripping red.

"TOO LATE."

Jane bolted straight up, hyperventalating and covered in sweat. He jumped off of the matress, and ran from the room. Nearly falling down, he raced down the stairs, sliding on the landing. He grabbed his keys, and left his house, jumping in his car and screaming out of his driveway.

Once on the highway, he raced over the speed limit, passing cars as they honked at him. He didn't slow down.

Finally he arrived at Van Pelts house. From a quick scan, Jane was able to see that the cops were all there, and everything looked fine. But that wouldn't calm his nerves.

He parked, and got out of his car. He walked over to a pair of the cops, who were sitting in their truck. One of them recognized him and rolled down his window.

"Everything alright, sir?" he asked. Jane glanced at his name tag.

"Yes Officer Moore, I was just making sure everythin was good here."

"Yes, sir. Nothig out of the ordinary." He replied.

"Do you mind if I have a look around?" The officers shook their heads. "Then I'll probaly wait in my car, if that's alright." Jane finished, intending to stay no matter what they said.

"Yes sir, go ahead. I'll just call the others to let them know your not a threat." Jane nodded and began to walk away, than stopped and turned back to the officer.

"Do me a favour, don't tell anyone I was here?" Moore looked confused, "It's just that Agent Lisbon worries when I don't sleep, and I don't wan't to worry anyone."

"Alright, sir." he said, and Jane walked away.

Jane walked up to Graces front door, and then began to walk along the edge of the house. His heart was still pounding as he searched for the right window. Knowing that was very creeping, and might get him arrested, he looked into Grace's bedroom window.

He sighed in relief as he saw her, sound asleep. Quickly, he backed away from the window, and went back to his car. He sat in the drivers seat, and suddenly realized how paniced he was. He took several deep, calming breaths.

It worried him how much the nightmare had scared him enough, to come raceing to Grace's house at two o'clock in the morning. He realized he had been terrified that the dream was real, and that Red John had gotten to Grace already.

Silently, Jane swore to himself that he wouldn't let anything happen to Grace, and he was going to stay close to her to protect her.



When Grace got to work that morning, Jane was already there, laying on his couch. She smiled to herself, glad that somethings never change. It had taken her at least an hour to get to sleep last night, knowing that there were cops watching her house.

Jane had stayed outside in his car until he saw a light come on in Graces room, than he had left for HQ. He didn't want Grace to know he had been there, and had then watched as she had come into the building. Even to him it sounded creepy.

A few minutes after Grace arrived, Cho, and then Rigsby got to work. Ribsby hada a box of dounuts that he laid on the table, after taking one for himself. Lisbon was already in her office. The agents all got to work, doing their various tasks.

Half an hour later, Lisbon walked in, closing her cellphone.

"All right, we got a missing persons case uptown." she said.

"Why are we getting a missing persons case?" Rigsby asked.

"The call is from is from a Mr. Grant, a personal friend of the governor. Aparently his wife is missing." she told them. "So, we need to get there ASAP." The team all stood up, grabbing various keys and wallets.

"I'll ride with Van Pelt." Jane said, standing up and grabbing his suit coat.

"Why?" Lisbon and Grace asked at the same time.

"Your vehicle is the most comfortable." he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Lisbon rolled her eyes.

All the vehichles pulled out of the parking lot, Rigsby, Cho and Lisbon in the SUV ahead of Grace and Jane. They rode in companionable silence for a few minutes.

"When have you ever been in my car before?" Grace asked all of a sudden.

"When I was driving of course." Jane answered, turning his head and grinning. Grace simultaniously shuddered and shook her head at the memory, that was slightly horrific and funny at the same time.

"Remind me to never let you drive again." she said.

"Ah come on. I'm much better when I can see." he responded, laughing slightly.

"I've ridden with you before Jane, and I think I perfered your blind driving." she joked. Jane grinned his typical ear-to-ear grin.

Thanks to traffic, they were another half an hour getting to the crime scence. A police 'do not cross' tape line was put up between gate enterance, a couple of cruisers, and a whole lot of camera crews.

The house was somewhere betwee victorian, and modern architecture. It was a perfect shade of white, wipe steps leading to the front door, with an overhanging roof, supported by two pillars.

The team dodged the cameras, ducked under the tape, and walked up the steps into the house. Jane immediatly began to look around, taking in little details. He walked over to a wall of pictures, looking over them. There was one of to the side of the and his wife, though the wifes attention was past her husbands shoulder, looking at someone in the back ground.

Mr. Grant came up to group and began talking with them. It was obvious he was in a true panic. Jane wasn't really paying any attention to what the man said, doubting he could say anything of importance.

"When did she exactly go missing?" Lisbon was asking.

"She didn't come home yesterday night. I phoned the police this morning." Mr. Grant was almost in tears.

"When was this picture taken?" Jane asked, pointing at the picture. Mr. Grant looked over.

"A month ago, we had a party." he said.

"You had live music, a little un-known traveling band, right?" Jane asked. Lisbon, Rigsby and Grace were looking at him curiostly. A maid walked between two doors, shaking her head a little.

"Yes, little more than gypsys." Mr. Grant said, and went back to talking to Lisbon.

Grace came over to Jane.

"What do you think?" she asked him.

"What do you think?" he repeated. Grace looked at the picture, noteing where the wife was looking as well.

"I think we need to look at her closet." she said facing Jane again. They headed up the stairs.

In the bedroom, Grace opened the double doors into the walk in closet. It was empty, execpt a single sheet of paper taped to the wall. Jane ripped it off, and read it, and grinned.

"It was late that night when the lord came in," he began to mutter/sing, as and the rest of the team came into the room, "enquiring for his lady-oh. The servent girl replied to her lord," Jane handed Mr. Grant the note, "she's away with the raggle taggle gypsy-oh."

Grant gasped, and cluctched his head, sinking onto the bed.

"What?" Cho asked.

"She left with one of the band members. This is her goodbye note." Jane explained as he walked out of the room. "The case is solved." He called over his shoulder theatrically. Then turned, and waited for his team to leave the room as well. He fell in steep beside Grace.

"Nicely done, Grace." he told her. She smiled.

The travel back to HQ was a little shorter than the ride to the site. Jane again rode with Grace, but this time laid his head back and drifted between asleep and awake.

"Do you mind if I put music on?" she asked when he first put his head back.

"Nope, go ahead." he replied. The music helped Jane sleep, and when he was drifiting awake, he'd hear Grace softly singing along. It was nice, and he was relaxed.

She nudged his shoulder when they got back, the others pulling behind them. They got out of the car, Jane stretching his shoulders.

"A giant waste of time." Rigsby was muttering.

They entered the building, Rigsby and Cho heading toward the kitchen, Lisbon to her office. Grace and Jane immediatly noticed a large bouquet on Grace's desk, made of a dozen white roses, with a single red rose in the center.

Grace walked over, and picked up the flowers. A note fell from the petals. She picked it up, and read it. Jane had been smiling, thinking that Rigsby had finnaly made a move, but his face fell when he saw the look on Graces face.

"What is it?" he asked her. Silently, she passed him the note, which he read outloud.

"No doubt that this will be read by your entire team, but these words are for you, as are the roses. I am the only one who will ever understand you Grace, and I know you will understand me in the same way. Don't be afraid. RJ"

Jane put the note down, feeling slightly sick. Grace had put down the flowers, as far away from her as possible.

"I was really wrong." Jane said, sitting on the edge of the desk. Grace looked at him.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. He looked her in the eye.

"Red John dosn't want to kill you. He isn't trying to frighten you. He's trying to seduce you."


	3. Chapter 3

Authors note: Thanks for the many reveiws, awsome. My computors kinda of funny right now, and not doing the spell check, so sorry for any mistakes.

Chapter 2

"I'll be watching you."

"_What_!" Grace practically yelled, making the rest of the team come running in, hands on their guns. Grace had gone pale, and looked as she was going to throw up at any moment. Jane had his hand covering his mouth, in shock.

"What happened?" Rigsby said, as he mover over to stand beside Grace, putting a hand on her shoulder. Cho picked up the note that had fallen on the desk, and read it. His face muscles tightened, and he handed the note to Lisbon.

"Red John sent you flowers?" she asked incrediously. "What is he playing at?" she directed the last question at Jane. He had to visibly drag himself away from his thoughts.

"He's in love with her." Jane said, Grace closed her eyes and shuddered. Rigsby squeezed her shoulder. Lisbon was speachless, her mouth hanging open in an "oh". She quickly recovered.

"You," she called over to one of Grace's security team, "go to security, and find out who brought the flowers in here." He nodded and ran off. A few minutes passed, nobody said much.

Jane sat, his head resting on his hand. He was upset that he had been so far off the mark, it was another reminder that he couldn't read Red John as well as he thought he could. It was also a reminder that he couldn't guess Red Johns moves, and that Grace needed more protection now than ever.

"Ma'am," the officer came back, slightly out of breath, "security said they let a flower deliver in at 10:48, by the name of Geoffery Sheridan, who works for 'Roses are Red, Violets for You' a shop on Capitol Ave, near the Trinity Cathedral Church."

_(A:N I just picked a random Sacramento street name)._

"Alright, Cho, Rigsby, go check it out. Who made the order, how it was made, and try to find a lead into Red John." Lisbon said.

"Yes boss." Rigsby said, giving squeezing Grace's shoulder again before leaving with Cho. Grace was still staring ahead blankly. Jane was worried about her, she wasn't taking this well.

"You just take it easy," Lisbon said to Grace, noting as well how shaken she was. "Just relax, you need time to deal with this." Grace nodded. Lisbon turned to Jane. "Jane I want you to.."

"I'm staying here with Van Pelt." He cut her off. Lisbon gave a confused look, he lowered his head a little, silently asking her please.

"OK, you stay here. I'm going to go talk to security, see if there's anything else."

Jane nodded in thanks before she walked out. He turned his head to find Grace looking at him with a funny experssion. He raised his eyebrows, asking what.

"Why aren't you going out there? It's Red John." she questioned.

"Red John wouldn't have done any of these things personally. So, theres no point of me talking to anybody, they wouldn't know anything. And I thought that you wouldn't want to be alone. That you could use a friend."

Grace smiled at him. "Thank you." Jane smiled back. A true smile, not one that was mocking or supeior in anyway. In his eyes, Grace saw a strange look, one she hadn't ever seen him have before.

"Do you really think he's in love with me?" she asked.

"He thinks he is anyways. You really should tell him that Rigsby is ahead of him in line."

Even though it wasn't really funny, Grace laughed anyways. It was more of a way to relase some of the tention she was feeling. Jane smiled, glad that she could relax a little. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the bouqet of roses. A wicked thought came into his head. He grinned evily.

"Come with me. Lets have some fun with these." he said, picking up the flowers.

"Jane, what are..." Grace started to say, frowning. He just grinned at her.

"Come on, trust me." he said, and grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet, and not letting go as he dragged her down the hallway.

"What are you doing?" she complained.

"You'll love it, trust me." he replied. He breifly thought of what a strange scence they were making, and chuckled to himself. Here he was, holding a bunch of roses, holding Grace Van Pelt by the hand, and dragging her who knows where.

He stopped breifly at a small janitors closet, grabbing a couple of small objects and a waste basket, then they headed outside. Jane lead Grace to an open part of the parking lot, away from anything else.

He dropped the roses in the basket, putting it on the ground. Then he dumped half of the bottle of lighter fluid on the flowers, lit a match, and dropped it into the can. The flame caught the liquid, and burst up into the air.

Grace laughed whole heartedly, getting a strange satisfaction from watching the 'gift' burn away to nothing but ash. Jane found Grace's laughter infectious, and he began to laugh as well. They stood there, laughing, till the last of the flowers were gone.

"Your right," Grace said, "I did love that."

"See, you should always trust me." Jane said, making Grace laugh and shake her head. Suddenly, Jane realized he hadn't let go of Grace's hand, and he was unconsiously rubbing his thumb back and forth.

He cleared his throat, and let go of her hand. He noticed that Grace looked suprised that they were still holding hands as well.

"_Why had it felt so natural to hold her hand?" _Jane wondered.

"We should go back in." Grace said, suddenly feeling very ackward.

"Are you going to be able to relax in there?" Jane asked, acting as if he didn't feel at all ackward or unsure. Grace thought for a second, then shook her head.

"How 'bout we go pick somthing up to eat. When they get back, I'm sure Rigsby will be hungry." he said.

Grace smiled, saying that she thought it was a good idea. In truth, she thought they should stay (or at least tell Lisbon they where going), but she didn't want to go back into the building, knowing that it would make her think of Red John.

"We're heading out to go grocery shopping." Jane called out to Grace's escort, as they climbed into his car.

ODODODODODOODODODODODODODOD

About 20 minuets later, they where at the supermarket, Jane was pushing the cart.

"So, what do you think we should get?" he questioned, as they walked down the frozen goods isle. Grace studied the contents, and pulled off a box of chicken nuggets.

"This sound good?" she asked.

"Yeah, lets get some chips and pop to go with it." Grace nodded, and they began to walk down the isle.

In the background, the radio was playing over the intercom system. Both of them where ignoring it, until they heard this come out of it....

"Now this next song is dedicated to Grace Van Pelt." the DJ said. Grace and Jane stopped, glancing at each other, both feeling a sense of dread. "From your loving devotee, John Redding. Dude, this may not be the right song to win your lady."

"_Every breath you take, and every move you make, every bond you break ,every step you take, I'll be watching you. Every single day, and every word you say. Every game you play, every night you stay, I'll be watching you." _The song began to play.

Grace rolled her eyes to heaven, as if silently asking 'why?' Jane was filled with anger. Red John was toying with them, letting him know that he was watching Grace all the time. Jane glanced around, knowing that Red John had to be in the store some where. In their own isle, there where over 30 people. Jane knew it was futile.

"Lets get out of here." Jane said, gently grabbing Grace by the elbow and leading her out of the store. They left their cart and food behind.

Jane and Grace was sitting in Jane's car, in the CBI parking lot. Jane was silently seething. He had driven a lot faster than needed on the way back. He was furious at Red John, but a part of him (a part he was refusing to acknowledge) was terrifed. He was terrifed for Grace, knowing what Red John was capable of.

He looked over at Grace. She was staring staight ahead, not moving. She hadn't even said anything about the speeds that he was driving with. Instantly, his anger turned to concern.

"Are you going to be alright?" he asked gently. She blinked, drawn back into reality by his voice. She looked over at him.

"Yeah, just give me a minute." her voice was shaky, and Jane knew she was working hard at keeping it all in.

"We'll tell Lisbon, she can get someone to talk to the DJ, try and get a phone record. If we are lucky, we can get a voice." he consoled her. She nodded, but he knew that she didn't buy it anymore than he did. He noticed water begining to form in her eyes.

"Nothing is going to happen to you, Grace." Jane said, staring into her eyes, "I promise."

When they entered the building, they found Rigsby and Cho back already, and talking with Lisbon. All three turned to look a the entering duo.

"Where have you been!?" Lisbon yelled at them. Jane grinned at her.

"We went to get some food." he replied cheerily. Lisbon crossed her arms.

"Really, than where is the food?" she replied cheekily.

"We had to leave it. Red John 'requested' a song for Van Pelt over the radio." Lisbon froze. Rigsby looked ready to strangle somebody. Out of the corner of his eye, Jane saw Grace shivered. He took a half step toward her, offering her some sort of emotional support.

"What song?" Cho asked.

"The 'Police', 'Every Breath You Take'." Jane anwsered.

"Creepy." Cho replied. Lisbon began to speak, but was interupted by Rigsby.

"We're on it, boss. Heading to the store now." And him and Cho left the building again.

"Jane, my office, now." Lisbon said. In the office, Lisbon sat behind her desk, and Jane positioned a chair so that he could see through the window, to where Grace was sitting at her desk. A move that didn't escape Lisbon's attention.

"What is going on here?" she questioned.

"That question can have mulitple anwsers." Jane anwsered, smiling. "It would help my anwser if you were more specific."

"With you and Van Pelt. You have hardly let her out of your sight." she said.

Jane sighed, he had hoped that nobody would notice. He guessed that he underestimated his co-workers a little too much. He contemplated his responce.

"I'm protecting her." he replied simply and truthfully. Lisbon was taken back.

"We've got a team doing that." she said.

"None of which know Red John like I do. I am the least likely person to underestimate him. And even I can't get him right. If I leave this job to other people, Grace is going to wind up dead. I can't let that happen."

Lisbon was speechless at how honest Jane was being. She thought about what he said.

"And you don't want the rest of the team to know." it wasn't a question. "Alright, I'll help you out. I'll assign you two to work together all the time. And I won't make it obvious." she promised.

Jane stood. "Thank you Lisbon."

"Keep her safe." Lisbon said, she didn't want to lose her friend.

Jane left the office, took off his jacket and layed down on his couch.

"What did Lisbon want?" Grace questioned.

"Oh, she wanted to know why the janitor was yelling about a burnt garbage can."

ODODODODODODODODODODODODODODO

Grace was at her home, in her comfy PJ's. She was holding a cup of hot chocolate, and was sitting in her chair. It had been a week and a half since the first note from Red John, and she thought she was holding up pretty well.

There had been no new messages from Red John after the grocery store incident, which had pulled up a dead end. At least she had one thing to be gratefull for.

Which brought up a point that had been sitting in Grace's mind for a few days. _Jane. _He had been acting strangly around her. Granted, Red John always made him go kind of crazy, but this was different. But Grace had to admit, if it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't be able to deal with it half as well.

Though it was really weird to admit (even to herself), Grace realized that Jane had become a steady comfort. Knowing that he was always around, ready to help, made her feel safe.

If someone had told her a few weeks ago that she would ever feel comfortable and safe around Patrick Jane, she would have arrested them for crack use. She shook her head ruefully, laughing quietly at her inner joke.

Grace downed the rest of the drink, than got up and put the empty cup in her kitchen sink. She walked to her bedroom, yawning. The curtain wasn't closed all the way over her window, and she glanced out of it.

She did a double take. She shook her head, thinking that she couldn't have possibly seen what she thought she did. But just to make sure, she crossed to the window and looked out into the street.

Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe it. There, parked a little ways away from her house, was Jane's car. A part of her was kind of creeo out, but mostly she suddenly became exasperated.

"What is he doing?" she mumbled. She grabbed a coat, and walked out her front door. One of the officers saw her, and made a move as if to come toward her. She signaled him that everything was alright.

Coming up to the car, Grace saw that Jane was asleep. His head was tilted back on the head rest, his mouth hanging open slightly. She walked to the drivers window, and knocked on the glass, none to gently. Jane jumped in his seat, and twisted to the window. He saw Grace standing there, her arms crossed, looking not very happy. He looked sheepish, realizing that he had gotten caught. He rolled down the window.

"Jane, what are you doing?" she asked. He grinned at her, trying to use his charm and not get in to much trouble.

"Would you believe that I got lost and just decided to park here?" her anwser was a glare.

"I was just keeping an eye on you." he admitted bashfully.

"And how long have you been 'keeping an eye on me'?" she asked angerly. Jane didn't anwser. Grace turned around and moitioned for one of the security team members to come over.

The officer came over, looking apologeticly at Jane.

"Officer Moore, how long has Mr. Jane been coming here at night?" she asked, fire sparking in her eyes.

"Since the first night, ma'am." Moore replied, cringing. Grace glared at Jane.

"Why?" she asked. Jane sighed, knowing that (like with Lisbn) honesty was the best policy of the moment.

"I'm trying to protect you. Red John could move in at anytime. I need to be near you so that he won't, or so I can stop him."

All of Grace's anger melted. She wanted to stay mad at him, but it was hard to when he was being this honest. She shook her head at the consultant.

"Your not going to leave even if I tell you to, are you?" she said. Jane shook his head, a small smile on his face. She sighed.

"Well, you might as well come in, instead of staying in your car." she told him. Jane rolled the window up, and got out of the car. Grace was already heading back to the house.

Jane followed her, his mind comeing up with the many possiblites of how this could become very ackward. Grace went into the house, leaving the door open for him. He closed and locked it when he got in.

Jane turned around and got hit in the face by a folded blankett. Obviously, Grace was still irratated with him. He chuckeled.

"The couch is over there." Grace's departing figure said, pointing to another room. He heard her door close. So, not ackward at all.

Jane walked over the room Grace had motioned to, a large blue couch was set there, with two sitting chair on either end. A large picture window was in the opposite street. Poistioned in front of the couch was a small fireplace. Above the mantle were two pictures.

Jane sat down on the couch, studing the pictures. Contrary to what he had expected, they weren't pictures of Grace's family.

The one on the left was a picture of mountains, creating a large pass. The way the light reflected off the mountains gave them a deep emerald colour. There was a light dusting of snow on their peacks. Clouds where sunken into the space created by the pass, they where golden.

The picture on the right was an ocean sunset, on a beach Jane had never seen before. There where clouds on the horizon, colured ruby red with horizontal streaks of deep purple. The water looked like sappire, and the sand was white.

Jane stayed looking at the pictures. There was so much more to them than what was immeadialty noticed. And side by side, they almost gave off this calming aura. Jane studied the pictures until his eyes closed in sleep.

Jane woke when sunlight streamed through the blinds. He opened his eyes, and looked around in confusion for a second or two. He got off the couch and stretched his back. He headed to Grace's kitchen, and began to look through the cuboards. There wasn't much food.

He did find a canister of coffee grounds, and a box of tea. He got a pot of coffe going for his collegue when she got up, and put water on to boil for himself. He looked through the fridge, and he decided that the only suitable thing for breakfeast was the bowl of oranges on the island.

"Good morning." he called over his shoulder to Grace as she walked into the kitchen. When he turned around, Jane say that she was still wearing her flannel pajamas (which he now noticed had Winnie the Pooh on them). "Sorry if I woke you."

"I'm not used to hearing noise in my house. I almost grabbed my gun before I remembered you where in here."

The coffee maker beap, and Jane poured Grace a cup, while he made himself his tea. Grace wondered how he could sleep in a three piece suit, and not look like a mess in the morning.

"You don't have for breakfeast food in here." he remarked.

"I usually just grab somthing on the way to work." she replied.

"Well, what do you like? We don't have to be at work for another, what, hour and a half? I thought I'd go grab us somthing." Grace looked at him quizically.

"You hardly let me out of your sight for a week and half, including watching my house at night, but your willing to go out for food?" she asked him.

"Well, I think you can be safe for twenty minutes. Plus, I thought you might find it a little weird to know I'm in your house while your showering."

Grace blushed. "There's a store down the road a ways that has good smothies and bacon/egg biscuits."

Jane smiled. "Alright, smothies and bacon egg sandwiches, coming up."

It took him a little over twenty minutes to go to the resturant, get the food, and get back to Grace's house. As he pulled up, he was whistling. He was happy, which was rather suprising. After falling asleep, he had stayed asleep all night, and for once in a very long time, he hadn't had any nightmares.

He didn't see any of the security team around, knowing that they where making their rounds at the moment. He walked the step, went to open the door, and froze.

There, on the wooden door, was a red smiley face.

A/N: My first truly suspensfull cliff hanger


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Jane was frozen to the spot. He couldn't move, couldn't breath.

"Please, no. No, no, please." was the only thought controlling his mind. The bag of food had fallen from his hand. He suddenly became aware of his racing heart, and the fact that he was hyperventilating.

Adrenaline kicked in, and Jane slammed the door open. He raced into the house, searching first the living room, than the kitchen. He couldn't't't't find her. The thought ran through his mind, that if Red John had gotten her, she'd be in the bedroom.

He raced to her door, and tried the handle. It was locked. Visions of Grace laying dead were flying before his eyes. He hesitated a moment, than using strength he didn't't't know he had, he flew back and kicked the door out.

The door flew into the room, landing with a crash on the floor. Jane ran into the room, and something hard hit the back of his head. The force sent him sprawling on the floor. Snapping his head around (and wishing he had'nt) he saw his attacker.

A very stunned, horrified, Grace Van Pelt holding a baseball bat. Relief flooded through him, making him feel almost giddy. He stood up, ignoring the throbbing pain in the back of his head, and had the urge to go and hold Grace in his arms in relief.

"Jane, what are you doing?" She asked, he could tell that she was coming down off adrenaline the same as him.

He sagged against the wall and put his hand on the back of his neck.

"I had to make sure you were ok." He said. Grace looked confused. "Your front door." He said, and Grace left, Jane following behind her. She looked at her door, and color drained from her face. Terror was written all over her face, and Jane felt such hopelessness because he couldn't't't make it go away.

"He was here." Was all she could get out. "He was right here."

"Ma'am!" someone shouted, and Jane saw Officer Moore come running up the path to the door, his weapon drawn.

"Are you alright Ma'am?" he asked when he reached the door. Before Grace could answer, Jane cut in.

"Red John was right here Officer!" he nearly shouted, "And where were you?"  
"Sorry sir, we where making are rounds, checking the neighborhood." Moore said.

"From now on, you never stop watching this house. You always have at least two men watching, the rest can do the patrol." Jane saw the bag of food he had dropped, and grabbed it. "And I want you to get a cleaning team out here as soon as possible, and clean this door off."

"Yes sir." Jane slammed the door, wincing slightly cause the loud noise jarred his head a little. He gently guided Grace into the living room, where she sat on the couch. He took the food into the kitchen.

The lids of the smoothies had burst off when he dropped it, so he threw the whole bag away. He made two fresh cups of tea, and took them out to Grace. He gave one cup to her, which seemed to break her out of her spell.

"Your head," She asked, "are you alright?"

"I'll be fine. You waked me pretty good though." He said, joking a little. Grace looked miserable.

"I'm so sorry. There's some Tylenol in the cupboard above the sink. I'll go grab some for you." She moved to stand, but Jane put his hand on her arm, stopping her.

"I got it." He said. He went and grabbed a couple, swallowing them with a drink of his tea. He sat back down on the couch next to Grace.

"It is my fault though, I did break down your bedroom door." This got a small smile out of Grace, which was exactly what Jane wanted. He needed to get her mind off of what just happened.

"To be honest, I didn't't think you where that strong." She said, a little sheepishly.

"Neither did I." Jane said with a laugh. Grace smiled at him, she could tell what he was doing, and she appreciated it. Jane smiled back, drawn in by her smile.

Jane brought his attention back to reality, and turned his head to the side, and he noticed the pictures again.

"Those two are really great," he said pointing to the pictures, "it's weird, but it feels like they have this calming effect."

"Yeah, those are two of my favorites. And they do to have a calming effect. Sometimes, after a hard day at work, I'll just sit her and look at them. I was lucky to get such great shots." She finished almost as an after thought.

"Ah, I had thought you took them. The mountains being in," he paused a moments, as if to think, "Canada somewhere, west coast. And the beach would be our own sunny California, but not a very popular beach." He said.

"You know, it's almost scary how good at that you are." Grace said, laughing slightly. "The mountains are in this little town in British Columbia, right on the main highway. It was a family vacation when I was 16. The beach is from the same trip. We stopped at this little pull out to stretch, and here this little beach was. It was really amazing." Her eyes had become lost in memory, and she sat starring off into space.

Jane looked at her, trying to figure her out. True, there where some things he had guessed at that had hit close to the mark, but he didn't't really know much about her. He noticed that she almost looked sad, and that twisted something inside him.

He broke himself out of his musing and glanced at a clock.

"We should be getting to work." He said. Grace nodded.

They both rode in Grace's jeep, with Jane driving.

"It won't take much time for everyone else here to notice that I'm always with her, if we start car pooling." He ruefully thought to himself. "It's not going to be a secret very much longer, I am staying at her house." This thought almost stopped him. He hopped nobody (especially Rigsby) took that information the wrong way.

The two of them where almost run over by their co-workers as soon as they got off the elevator.

"Are you alright?" Rigsby asked Grace anxiously. She nodded.

"On of the officers reported what happened." Lisbon said, "Grace, I want you to take the next couple of days off."

"Boss.." Grace started to say.

"This isn't an option Van Pelt. A lot of crap has happened to you the last couple of days, you need time off, or your going to explode." Lisbon added in her 'no nonsense' tone. Grace nodded, but she looked quite put off.

Jane looked questionably at Lisbon, and an unspoken agreement was reached between them. Which basically said, "how are you going to work me going as well?" and "I'll tell Rigsby and Cho the reason why" then "thank you", followed by "just don't make a butt out of yourself, she needs to relax".

Jane and Grace left the building they had just entered, Grace not even raising an eyebrow when Jane was with walking with her.

"I don't think I can stand going back to my home right now." Grace said once they where in the car. Jane looked over at her, and saw a fraction of the emotional storm that was raging inside her. What was brought out the most was fear.

"We don't have to." He said, hurting because of her fear. "Anything you want to do, we can do." She turned to him.

"Really?" she asked quietly. He nodded. "Can we go to a park? I feel like being outside."

"OK." He said, as he started the engine and drove them to the nearest park.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, before finding a bench to sit on. Both let each other remain in their own thoughts for a while.

"When was the last time you took a day off?" Grace asked, breaking the silence. Jane thought for a moment.

"I can't even remember. I don't like not having anything to do." He said.

"You didn't need to come," Grace said, "and you don't have to stay. I don't want you to… I don't want you to start feeling awful while trying to prevent it in me."

"I want to be here, Grace. I need to make sure you stay ok. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." Grace turned her head and looked at him quizzically. "Besides, it's not like I'm not doing anything. Keeping you preoccupied is s a full time job." He added the joke hurriedly. Grace shook her head, smiling. "So, what do you want to do?"

Grace rested her head in her hands, and 'hmm'd. She looked at Jane.

"I honesty don't know. I guess I haven't taken a day off in a while as well."

Jane grinned, an idea forming in his head.

"Lets just walk around. We'll do whatever we want to do when we see it. Just be completely relaxed." Grace smiled.

"That sounds great." She said.

And so they spent the day, just wandering around Sacramento, doing whatever. They talked about insignificant things, like past pets, cases or growing up. They played Frisbee, got ice cream, ate pizza. Nothing really great was accomplished, but to both of them, it was one of the best days they'd had in a while.

It was dark when they finally got back to Grace's house. Both were silently relived that a crew had gotten in and cleaned the smiley face off, but the memory was still there.

Jane went and put the few things that they had bought away, while Grace went to the guest room to get it set up for him. Jane had taken of his jacket, and rolled up his sleeves.

When he was putting away some of the things, the thought came to him that this sort of thing was familiar to him. But more than that, it was comfortable. It felt…

His thoughts where interrupted by the door bell. He wondered who it could be at this time of day.

"Uh, Jane can you get that, please?" Grace's voice called from the other room.

"Sure." He called back, walking to the front door. He opened the door to see Rigsby standing on the front step.

"Hi." Rigsby said, perhaps a little awkwardly, "I just stopped by to see if Grace was alright."

"Who is it?" Jane heard Grace say, coming up behind him. She stopped when she saw Rigsby. Her eyes flicked briefly to Jane, and there was possibly a small blush on her cheeks. Rigsby smiled warmly when he saw her. Jane felt a small uncomfortable twinge in his stomach.

"Hey. Just wanted to check that your ok." He said.

"I'm fine. Thank you for checking." She replied.

"I'll be going now. I, uh, I just want to talk to Jane for a minute first." Grace looked between the two men.

"Ok. See you in a couple days." She said, and walked back into the house. Jane set out onto the step, and closed the door. Rigsby cleared his throat awkwardly.

"So, Lisbon explained what your doing." He started, trying not to feel awkward.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to let anything happen to her. This is just for her safety." Jane said to him.

"Ok, just… look after her, for me." Rigsby asked. Jane nodded and watched as Rigsby got back into his car and drove off.

He walked back into the house, locking the door behind him. Grace was leaning against the wall near the kitchen.

"What did he want?" she asked.

"Just wanted to talk." He said. Grace rolled her eyes, slightly irritated with his lack of information, but that was normal.

"Well, I'll show you your room." She said, as she walked to the guest room, Jane following her.

"It's not really a bedroom. It's the TV room." She explained when they came in. "The futon does pull out, in a hide-a-bed." Jane sat down, trying out the couch.

"It feels great." He said. Grace nodded, happy that he was going to be ok. She stayed standing in the door way for a minute. Jane could tell that she didn't want to sleep, for fear that her dream would be pleasant. He knew the feeling very well. He almost said something, but Grace beat him to it.

"I think I'll turn in." she said.

"Goodnight Grace." He said, as she was leaving the room.

"Goodnight Jane." She replied, before going into her room, which was right beside his.

Jane stayed awake for a while, thinking about the day. He smiled as an idea came into his head, of how to make tomorrow an even better day.

Jane woke early the next morning, trying to make his mind forget his nightmares. He grinned when he remembered his plan. He went into the kitchen to prepare a good breakfast, he was going to make this day flawless.

He mixed some pancake batter up, and set it cooking. He also got some bacon frying. To top it off, he mixed up some orange juice and whipped cream.

Grace came stumbling into the room right when the first batch of pancakes where done. Jane flashed her a brilliant smile.

"Perfect timing." He said as he directed her to sit down, and sat a loaded plate in front of her. He filled her glass, then sat down with his own plate.

"Thank you." Grace said.

"Gee, no need to sound so suspicious, it's not like it's poison or anything." He said, feigning hurt feelings.

"Sorry, it's just, I never would have expected this from you." She said. Jane grinned broadly at her.

"Well, today is going to be awesome. I've got it all planned, so you don't need to worry. Just follow my lead."

"Why does that sentence not fill me with confidence?" Grace replied, smiling.

They had a pleasant conversation during breakfast, and when they were done, Jane took care of all the dishes.

"Ok, go get changed into some sun clothes, and get your camera. Where taking a bit of a road trip." Jane said when they were done. Grace narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Fine, but this better not be anything I'll make you regret." She threatened.

"Where's the faith?!" Jane called after her as she left for her bedroom.

A few minutes later, she came out, wearing tan shorts and a dark pink tank top. Her camera bag was slung over her shoulder. She went into the living room to find Jane, and she stopped when she saw him.

He was wearing dark blue shorts (which could be mistaken for swimming trunks) that had a deep red line down the sides. He also had on a light blue t-shirt. Combined with his blond curls, it made him look like a surfer.

"Come now, I can't look that good." Jane mocked.

"I'm just not used to seeing you in anything but your suit. I was beginning to think you had been born in one." She replied, blushing slightly.

"Lets go." He said, grabbing her by the shoulder and leading her out. He was really exited, and it was contagious. They got into his car, and drove.

And drove, and drove. By the time they had actually gotten to the destination, Grace had fallen asleep. Jane gently shook he shoulder.

"Grace, we're here." He said, as she woke up. She stretched her arms out.

"Where are we?" she asked, confused.

"Get out and see." He said, grinning. She got out of the car and looked around. They were at the beach. Grace turned and grinned at Jane, looking more exited than Jane had seen her in a while.

"I thought this would be a good place to come to. We can relax, sit in the sun, take pictures." Jane said, pulling a blanket, umbrella, bucket set and picnic basket out of the car.

They walked out onto the sand, the beachcombers already there staring at them. Grace couldn't really blame the stares, seeing as they had five police officers following them. Jane chuckled at them.

He set up the stuff not very far from the as Grace began to take some pictures around the area. When she looked back at him, she say that he had begun to build a sandcastle.

An hour later, Grace was still taking pictures. She had to admit, this was a great idea, photography always did help her calm down. She walked back tot where Jane was, and looked at his sand master piece.

It was amazing. It was huge, a full blown castle with several towers, battlements, even a draw bridge and moat. Jane had finished a while ago, and was now laying on the blanket. She snapped a few pictures of the castle, and a couple of it's creator.

"Now for some fun!" Jane called, making Grace jump. She thought he had been asleep. He lifted himself up on an elbow, looking at Grace.

"You do swim, right?" he asked teasingly.

"Yes, I do." Grace replied slowly, as if to a child, "But I'm not going to right now." Jane sat all the way up, and pouted.

"Aww, why not? It'll be fun." He whined. Grace shook her head, and put down her camera.

"Fine, fine. I'll just have to make you the way your brothers used to.." Grace looked at him quizzically, and he sprung. Before she could even begin to think what he was doing, he was over to her, tickling her.

Grace began laughing like crazy, trying to fight him off and run at the same time. Her laughing got Jane laughing, as they fought each other, and moved around their little spot of beach.

Suddenly, they both fell over, into the water. They both jumped up from the shock. They looked at each other and started laughing again. Grace got an evil smile, than, scooping her hands, splashed Jane.

He stood there, water dripping down his face, in mock horror. Then he proceeded to throw water on Grace. Soon, both where splashing each other, running through water, and soaking wet.

Deciding to end the water fight, Grace tackled Jane, knocking him to the ground with her on top of him. His head hit the wet sand, their lower halves still in the water.

"Alright, I give up!" Jane said, out of breath from laughing and running.

"And that is why you don't get in any kind of fight with Grace Van Pelt." Grace said, gloating. Jane briefly noticed that her hand was on his chest before she rolled off of him.

The trudged back up to their spot, soaking, exhausted and completely happy. They both fell onto the sand, eyes closed and enjoying the feeling of the sun on their wet skin. One of the officers carefully put down the camera he had been using.

They got home late again. Both where still flushed with happiness and the fun they had shared.

"I don't want this day to end." Grace said as they entered the house.

"We can put in a movie." Jane suggested, not at all eager for the day to be done either. Grace agreed to that, and they went into the TV/Jane's room and looked at the selection of movies.

Jane noticed a theme among her movies.

"X-Men 1-3, Kate and Leopold, Australia, Van Helsing. I'm guessing you're a Hugh Jackman fan." He teased. Grace shrugged, already sitting on the couch.

"Hey all I can say is, thank you Captain Cook for discovering Australia."

They settled on a movie, and set in to watch it. When it was over, Jane say Grace stifle a yawn.

"We can quit now if you want." He suggested. Grace shook her head.

"No, I'm good for another." She replied too cheerfully. Jane looked at her.

"Fine." She said, relenting. "I don't want to go to sleep. I don't want to have nightmares and be remained of everything I've been trying to forget."

"I know the feeling." Jane sympathized, and put in another movie.

About half way through it, Grace was completely asleep, and Jane was almost all gone. Without realizing it, Grace slipped down the couch and ended cuddled up against Jane. He was tired enough that he didn't even notice when he put his arms around her, drawing her closer to him, resting his head on top of hers.


	5. Authors Note

Authors Note

First off, I'd like to say thank you to all those who have read this story, and those who

have reviewed it. Thanks a million, your all fantastic!

I'm sorry to say that Red Johns Ruby Fascination is on permanent hold. When beginning

this story, I had no idea how it would end, and I was waiting for inspiration that never

came. I am sorry.

I was never planning on killing Grace, or to reveal who Red John was, if that helps at all. Thanks for all the time you've put up with me.

Captain Ryder


End file.
